Deranged American Tourist Hurls Priceless Ancient Roman Statues to the Floor and Defaces Them in Israeli Museum – Lawyer Says Man Suffered From ‘Jerusalem Syndrome’

An American tourist allegedly had a mental breakdown and went on a bizarre destructive rampage at an Israeli museum, smashing two priceless ancient Roman statues from 2nd century AD, and claimed that they represented ‘idolatry’ and were ‘contrary to the Torah’, authorities said.

But the man’s lawyer is pointing out to a well-known, if controversial condition: the Jerusalem syndrome.

This group of mental phenomena revolves around ‘the presence of religiously themed obsessive ideas, delusions, or other psychosis-like experiences that are triggered by a visit to the city of Jerusalem’ or elsewhere in the Holy Land.

The syndrome has allegedly affected Jews, Christians, and Muslims of many different backgrounds.

While it is not listed as a recognized condition in the  International Classification of Diseases, it has generated a large number of documented cases.

New York Post reported:

“A lawyer for the unnamed suspect — who was arrested after the incident — claimed he was suffering from a delusion known as ‘Jerusalem syndrome’ when he allegedly went wild with a stick during the Thursday evening incident, according to reports.”

The man’s rampage broke two statues – a head of Athena (2nd century AD) and a statue of a ‘griffin holding a wheel of fate’ (210-211 AD).

Multiple pieces lay in the exhibition hall floor, photos shared by police and distributed via local outlets showed.

The 40-year-old arrested shortly after the incident will undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

“His attorney Nick Kaufman later claimed the man had ‘Jerusalem Syndrome’, which is a form of disorientation that causes religious pilgrims to believe they are biblical figures.

Officers believe the man lashed out at the objects because he felt the Roman sculptures ‘to be idolatrous and contrary to the Torah’.”

The damaged artifacts will undergo professional restoration, the Israel Museum said.

The best known manifestation of the so-called Jerusalem syndrome is when a previously mentally balanced person becomes psychotic after arriving in Jerusalem.

It can include a paranoid belief that an agency is after the individual, causing their symptoms of psychosis through poisoning and medicating.^[8]

42 such cases have been reported over a period of 13 years.

The Guardian reported:

“With religious passions burning and tensions simmering during the Jewish holiday season, spitting and other assaults on Christian worshippers by radical ultra-Orthodox Jews have been on the rise, unnerving tourists, outraging local Christians and sparking widespread condemnation. The Jewish holiday of Sukkot, the harvest festival, ends on Friday at sundown.”

The Israel Museum described the vandalism as a ‘troubling and unusual event’, said it hopes such incidents will not recur.

“The Israeli government expressed alarm over the defacement, which officials also attributed to Jewish iconoclasm in obedience to early prohibitions against idolatry.

‘This is a shocking case of the destruction of cultural values’, said Eli Escusido, director of the Israel Antiquities Authority. ‘We see with concern the fact that cultural values are being destroyed by religiously motivated extremists’.

The vandalism appeared to be the latest in a spate of attacks by Jews against historical objects in Jerusalem. In February, a Jewish American tourist damaged a statue of Jesus at a Christian pilgrimage site in the Old City, and in January, Jewish teenagers defaced historical Christian tombstones at a prominent Jerusalem cemetery.”